23 - 29 July 1998
Issue No.387
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 23 - 29 July 1998 Issue No.387 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
SYRIAN PRESIDENT Hafez Assad was given a red-carpet welcome by French counterpart Jacques Chirac at the elegant Elysée Palace last Friday, the second day of his first official visit to France in 22 years, Atef Saqr reports from Damascus. Newspapers in Syria hailed the three-day visit as "historic" and praised the role France has played in recent years in helping the Arabs and Israel in their search for a just peace.
President Chirac, who said he had held "very positive" talks with Assad, underlined that "there will never be peace in the Middle East without active Syrian involvement." Assad, who met Chirac twice during his visit, also held talks with Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. The Syrian leader described France as a "strategic partner," adding that both countries blame Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the two-year-old deadlock in Arab-Israeli peace talks. Although Assad made few public statements during his visit, analysts said it was significant, because it showed that Syria is not isolated. In a brief statement to reporters, Assad said that he had expected Clinton to put more pressure on Israel during his second term in the White House, but that the US leader seemed unwilling to lean more heavily on the Jewish state. Beside talks on the peace process, France and Syria agreed to increase trade and joint investments. French oil companies have been given exploration contracts in Syria and the two countries will also work on joint water projects. |